


Flashback

by Penjaculations, Rhymepod195



Series: Talon! Genji AU [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff and Angst, Oneshot, Other, abuse mention, but it stands on its own, this is basically a one-shot that fits in the same AU as another fic I'm going to be working on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 21:06:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7480011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penjaculations/pseuds/Penjaculations, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhymepod195/pseuds/Rhymepod195
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is basically a drabble/oneshot based on a headcanon that Genji in this AU is highly averse to being touched without permission due to trauma from his childhood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flashback

The first time someone touches Genji without his permission, not knowing his no touch policy because he hadn't thought it needed to be voiced, it sends him into a panic attack that triggers a flashback to things he thought he'd long since pushed to the back of his mind. As long as he didn't think of them they couldn't hurt him anymore, right? But suddenly the memories come flooding to the forefront of his mind, clear as when they happened, and no less painful.

Hands, rough on his skin and forcing him to yield despite how he screams inside. His father's words in his mind, reminding him that this was how things were, he did as he was told or he'd be punished.

His father's punishments were always harsh, leaving him feeling the aching sting of it in more ways than one, so he obeys, squashes the fear in his mind and the revulsion in his gut, and does what is asked of him.

He always bathed afterwards, trying to rid his skin of the wrongness he felt, rubbing until it is red and raw, until his legs bleed and the water is tinted with coppery redness.

The suddenness of it all rushing back, how unprepared he is, is what causes the assassin to snap. A snarl ripping from his throat just as his arms, seemingly of their own accord, reach for the katana in its sheath. Blind panic has taken over and he does not see what he does, only reacts, the blade flashing out with lightning speed toward the offending hand on his arm.

At this point he no longer even knows who the hand belongs to, nor does he care, he feels only the unyielding need to protect himself when for so long he was unable to, forced to smother his own survival instincts for fear of incurring his father's wrath.

Before his attack hits its mark, strong arms surround him, yanking his arms back and sending the blade clattering to the floor. He snarls again, lashing out with kicks and fists, but the arms around him only hold on tighter despite the abuse, constricting with a familiar warmth that shocks his system into stillness and sends his mind reeling.

He knows these arms, recognizes their warmth and the chest pressed against his back, the low cursing in Spanish, and the realization makes him sag in those arms. The fight leaves him almost as quickly as it came and Genji is left gasping for breath, heaving like a koi flopping on the grass as it tries to breathe air not fit for its lungs.

Gabe catches him as if it is natural, as if he's done it a hundred times and perhaps he has, but Genji is too busy trying to force air into his uncooperating chest to think too hard on it.

Gabe's hands, always so gentle and careful, smooth up and down his arms and across his back, and his voice, soothing and low, is in his ear whispering to him to focus on the sound of his heartbeat, to match his breathing to the thumps in his chest until they slow, until his chest can expand properly again.

Genji listens, obeys because it's all he can do. Fingers brush across his cheeks with the feather-light tenderness of a butterfly and only then does Genji glance up at Gabe's face and realize he'd started crying, that sometime in the middle of his panic the other man had wrestled his helmet off and carried him back to their room.

He leans into the touch as a sob wracks his frame, his own hand reaching up to clutch tightly to the front of Gabriel's shirt, turning his head to press his face against the bunched up fabric and let out all the years of pent-up hurt he'd been hiding for so long.

In between sobs, his voice breaking on most of the words, Genji spills the part of his childhood he'd never shared with anyone before, lays out his fears to the only true father figure he's ever had and simultaneously laments his own perceived weakness for it.

Through the whole story Gabriel listens in calm silence, the only indicator of his feelings portrayed in the way his arms stiffen around him and the hard set of his jaw.

Afterwards, Gabe gently reassures him that all is well, that nothing like that will ever happen to Genji again so long as Gabriel is around to keep him safe, and he fully intends to be around for a very long time to do so. 

Genji falls asleep to the sound of Gabe singing softly in Spanish, wrapped in the man's warm arms and curled against his side like a small child. And, even if only for that one night, Genji feels like a child again.

The difference is that this time he feels safe.


End file.
